Question by Jason Owen: What if consciousness and energy were actually just different terms to describe the same thing?
(This was originally intended to be an answer to a question which was removed before I could post)
In that case, the religious and non-religious could both be right. It’s a theory which is growing in popularity that reality is just as beauty; in the eye of the beholder. In the case of religion, there are plenty of valid arguments for and against the possibility or likelihood of a supreme god.
Whether or not the energy (or consciousness) is infinite or not is an interesting question, but ultimately irrelevant, no?
Best answer:
Answer by hindu monk
Good question,u need to a have a deeper enquiry into it
Every morning and night go into silence or deep meditation, for meditation is the only way to discriminate between truth and error.
Paramahansa Yogananda
Some like to believe that there are over hundred techniques of meditation; each lingering at a different level, each manifesting its influence on the consciousness at a different pace.
The world over, many have confused meditation with concentration and relaxation with meditation. Techniques using music, dance, other forms of creative expression, an array of therapies (both physical and mental), have all been synchronised into one basket – Meditation!
But truly speaking, many of these work more at the intellectual level while others are only channels for relaxation and prepare you for the more serious stages of true meditation. From the point of view of the advanced Yogis, meditation really is a scientific technique for communion with God, and is the seventh step (dhyanai) in Patanjali’s eightfold path. To a host of new age and other spiritualists, however, techniques that encourage you to manifest mindfulness and be aware also fall under the gamut of meditation.
Meditation when done scientifically draws back into the central part of our body the spine and the brain the life current distributed throughout the various organs of the body, thereby magnetising these two very central parts (spine and brain) which in the astral body are also home to the seven chakras…ultimately leading the distributed energy back to their original centers of distribution. This really results in one experiencing oneself as Light. It is in this state that one’s physical self, consciously manages to free itself from the chords of its bodily and mental distractions.
Amidst the varying opinions and tastes, not to forget the pressures of modern day living and the multitude of diverse inner personalities cum spiritual interests, it might only seem prudent to encourage individuals to choose that form of meditation which seems appropriate to their own nature, feelings, and the goal they really seek to attain from their spiritual practices. Apropos, there are Hindu techniques, Buddhist techniques, techniques from other religions, and even those that do not belong to any religion in particular. We thus can also seem to have one or more universal forms of meditation.
Just as one moves from kindergarten to school to college to a Bachelor’s level and then onward, perhaps, to a post-graduate platform, so too in the realm of spiritual practices each one of us is drawn to and imbues practices and techniques as may be appropriate to our inner development. This is why some persons indulge in worship of deities, some prefer to seek God through mantra practices, and many others believe in relating with the formless One.
In the initial search one may be initiated into the path through the medium of simple techniques relating to meditation on objects, images, etc., but as one genuinely progresses and ardently calls out to the Divine to reveal Itself, one is definitely guided on to the one right approach as may behove one’s current spiritual personality.
Dear one, whatever be the technique that you practice, seek to do it in wisdom and with an understanding of the science behind your physical and subtle (energy) bodies. The benefits of all activity done with the intention of freeing the soul from bondage are manifold, and anything done with awareness and attention will only nurture deeper and faster success.
In our presentation here, we attempt to give credence to the importance of scientific methods in meditation and yet present some more simple techniques for the benefit of a beginner or one not yet wholly groomed on the path. Meditation is for both the atheist and the theist. It is concerned with awakening the realisation of the Self within, and is therefore beneficial to all and sundry
What do you think? Answer below!
“there are plenty of valid arguments for … the possibility or likelihood of a supreme god.”
Such as?
I think that you are probably right! New science is proving increasingly that reality IS in the mind of the beholder. It’s so mind blowing if you really let that sink in a THINK about it. We create our own reality.
yea what if?
Pile that theory on with the rest of the nonsensical theories out there. When everything claims something completely different, only one of them can be true, and everything else must be false.
Be convinced in your own mind what is truth and be prepared to defend it, otherwise you’re just believing another lie.
Stupid what if’s. Religion and non-religion can’t both be right. White will never be black, and black can never be white.
There are many modes of human experience. Spirituality is one, science another, and of course there are others. There are many possible perspectives; how many Points of View can exist? An infinite number x time itself. Light is a wave. Light is a particle.
Satori lasts an instant, or for eternity?
Must such a question be answered quickly?
There are a number of ‘modern aether’ theories that would agree with you. Intelligence = Consciousness = the energy matrix that supports this universe.
What kind of energy? Kinetic? Heat? Radioactive? Consciousness requires energy to exist. The human consciousness is fueled by a chemical process of the digestion of our food. The consciousness itself is not energy.
For those of us who have a very personal relationship with that force which we call God, He is much more than simply a field of energy that could have at some point in time billions of years ago sparked what we now know as our universe. Our God speaks to us, guides us, intervenes on our behalf, listens to our fears and comforts us as well. I am not a Bible scholar and would not attempt to interpret from my own mind what God is…or is not…to others. But I know from personal experience what He is to me. I can’t answer whether or not He is all the things that the Bible says He is…as He has not spoken to me about such things in detail and it has been my choice not to adhere to or believe anything that man has been a part of creating…i.e. Biblical interpretation etc. The only thing I can state with certainty is what He has spoken to me and that is primarily that He loves me and all mankind…Jesus IS his son (I just received that last night), and that He (God/Jesus) is walking with me every moment of every day.
Consciousness is a form of energy that permeates and resonates with everything and everyone. The illusion (and kicker) of Consciousness, is that it is individual,but it is not.In reality it is Universal and unlimited. Some individuals have learned to perfect certain vehichles that every individual possesses to aquire knowledge either first hand, lost, or common. The different vehicles are there to provide a means to enter varied fields of Cosnciousness; Astral,Vital,Desire,Soul, and Physical bodies are found within Man. The Rosicrucian teachings have proven to be a wonderful guide for understanding in this area.
Good luck in your journey-
Peace Profound
Will W
If you were to ask a particle physicist he would tell you that, ultimately, there are only two things in the universe, matter and energy. There are, of course, many forms of matter and many forms of energy. A philosophical Materialist (as opposed to an Idealist) maintains that consciousness awareness is an emergent property arising from the neural complexity of a living brain. A neurophysiologist would assure you that every time a neuron discharges a minuscule amount of electrochemical energy is transmitted across the associated synapses. So, in at least one sense you are correct. Consciousness arises from the flow of energy through the most complex object ever discovered, a living human brain. The neurological structure of the brain is physically modified by the nature of the thoughts which have already passed through it, and the flow of neural energy will be altered by the neural structures it encounters along the way. Thus, consciousness actually “evolves,” second by second, as thoughts are formed by neural energy interacting with the brain’s dynamic logical structure.
Theists would argue that consciousness results from a bit of God’s immortal essence, loaned to each person for the duration of their life, transformed into a soul by the experience of having lived, and returned to God after death.
Understanding the origin of consciousness awareness is cutting-edge science these days and modern scientists have a much better understanding of its nature than Plato or Saint Augustine ever dreamed possible. (FYI, Sam Harris, the atheist author, has a Stanford University doctorate in neurophysiology.)
I was most pleased to read Hindu Monk’s contribution (above). We need more like him on this site, if we’re ever to progress beyond squabbling over elementary Christian fundamentalism.